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Pregame: Canadiens vs Oilers |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
On Saturday, the Canadiens fell to the Flames with a 5-2 loss in their first game without head coach Martin St.Louis. The bench boss is still not back and there have been no further details revealed as to the reason for his absence or how long it will last so Trevor Letowski led practice yesterday.
Early in the season, the Oilers were going nowhere fast, and general manager Ken Holland decided he had to shake things up and he did it by firing head coach Jay Woodcroft who had been with Edmonton since 2021. To replace him, Holland opted for Kris Knoblauch, Connor McDavid’s coach when he played with the Erie Otters. Since then, the Oilers have been on fire and have the best record in the NHL (37-12-3) for a winning percentage of .740.
As a result, McDavid’s production has increased and he currently has 106 points, 10 behind league leader Nathan MacKinon and eight behind Nikita Kucherov. As for Leon Draisaitl, he has 86 points, and he’s ninth in the league. On the blue line, defenseman Evan Bouchard has a three-game point streak, gathering four assists in the process.
In their last 10 games, the Oilers have got a 7-2-1 record and they’ve lost their last game in overtime to the Avalanche on an Arturri Lehkonen game-winner. While the Habs are 3-4-3 and have lost their last two games.
Samuel Montembeault will be in net to take on the Oilers’ phenomenal attack, just as he was on January 13 when Edmonton beat Montreal 2-1 at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens’ netminder has taken on the Oilers four times in his career and he’s 1-2-1 with a 3.26 GAA and a .895 SP. No word yet on who will be in front of the Oilers net.
Juraj Slafkovsky will try to keep his four-game point streak going, he’s scored one goal and gathered four assists. Since the game is out west, it will be a late start for the East Coast as the puck drop is scheduled for 9:00 PM ET.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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